Joburg's neighbour metro, Ekurhuleni, is set to join the growing bus rapid transit (BRT) movement in South Africa, with its Harambee BRT service gearing up to start operations around the middle of this year.

And while the City of Joburg has made no announcements in this regard, Gauteng Transport MEC Ismail Vadi is pushing for Harambee to integrate with Johannesburg's Rea Vaya BRT network sooner rather than later.

Harambee (a Kiswahili term which means "pulling or working together in unity") aims to connect the nine Ekurhuleni towns of Benoni, Germiston, Springs, Kempton Park, Edenvale, Nigel, Brakpan, Boksburg, and Alberton.

Harambee's 56-kilometre trunk route from Tembisa in the north to Vosloorus in the south will be built in phases, starting with the section from Tembisa via Kempton Park to OR Tambo International Airport.

Construction of dedicated BRT lanes is well under way on Harambee's trunk route between Tembisa and OR Tambo International Airport. (Image: www.harambeebrt.co.za)

This first phase, supported by complementary and feeder routes, is due to start operating around mid-2016. The second and third phases, which will extend the trunk route from OR Tambo to Boksburg and from Boksburg to Vosloorus, are scheduled for launch by October 2017.

It will also, like Rea Vaya, be supplemented by the rollout of new cycling paths and pedestrian walkways, and like Rea Vaya will act as a catalyst for the regeneration of inner cities and the renewal of townships in the metro.

Speaking at the launch of the Harambee brand in November, MEC Vadi said that public transport was important "because it socially integrates people and the towns of a metro into one big city".

Ekurhuleni Executive Mayor Mondli Gungubele and Gauteng Transport MEC Ismail Vadi (second and third from left) with other members of the Ekurhuleni Metro Council at the launch of the Harambee brand on 12 November 2015. (Image: www.harambeebrt.co.za)

BRT, in particular, was a crucial intervention for reversing the negative effects of urban sprawl, traffic congestion and air pollution, Vadi said.

Integration with Rea Vaya, other transport modes

Vadi also announced that an intermodal facility would be built between Ivory Park and Tembisa in order to connect Harambee with Joburg's Rea Vaya BRT networks. "Eventually, our task is to gradually integrate all the BRT systems [Rea Vaya, Harambee and Tshwane's A Re Yeng]."

In his department's budget speech in June, Vadi stressed the importance of integrating the different modes of public transport in the province, focusing on Metrorail, which remains the primary mode of mass transit in Gauteng, with around one-million passengers riding its trains daily.

"We must modernise and transform this mode of transport, ensuring it is integrated with other modes such as the BRT systems and the Gautrain."

In an interview with CNBC Africa in November, Vadi said his department was working on a one-ticket-fits-all payment system that would eventually cover Metrobus, Metrorail, the Gautrain and its buses, and the province's three BRT systems.

And in a speech on 3 December accompanying the tabling of the Gauteng Roads and Transport Annual Report 2014/15, Vadi announced that the Gauteng Transport Commission, whose task is to co-ordinate the integration of public transport in the province, was now operational.

"It has started work on integrated fare management and e-ticketing, and on finalising a Non-Motorised Transport Plan for the province," he said, adding: "Gauteng can only develop to its fullest potential and deliver sustainably to its residents when it functions as an integrated City-Region."